ABSTRACT
Applications for sensors extend to every phase of business, industrial and scientific activity. This chapter discusses alarm sensors found in security, fire and life safety systems.
Sensors are the basic ingredients of an alarm system. They detect the condition or event indicating a security or fire problem. All logical discrimination, transmission, processing, display and recording activities that occur subsequent to initial detection have meaning because of what sensors see, hear, feel or otherwise sense with optical, electronic, electromechanical or mechanical capabilities. If the sensor is inappropriate or inadequate for the task, the output of the entire system will be severely limited, becoming a greater burden than benefit. Indeed, when the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) is striving to reduce false alarms to one a year for each system, device selection is paramount.
